I have some questions about investing in Brisbane. I live in Sydney and feel that I know the suburbs well but Brisbane is quite alien to me. So I am researching as much as I can to get a feel for what is what, and will probably start making some day or weekend trips soon.

I am currently looking at Auchenflower area and surrounding suburbs to the west and wondered what peoples thoughts are as to the 'kind' of people who rent and buy there? Being so many houses on blocks of about 400m2 I imagine it is popular with families that need close access to the city?

I also am concerned about the risk of floods. Looking at Understand your flood risk | Brisbane City Council some streets look safe and others look at risk. Is the flood information something you are looking at when investing in Brisbane? Or would you buy in an at risk area and ensure the home is 'ready'?

Inner West is fine, safe, nice, good demographics. Parts of it are under value/poised for growth given the Sydney price discrepancy IMO (but my strategy takes more more to Paddington/Auchenflower) rather than further out. Google suburb profile your investment property mag for demographics, or real estate.com.au will have the same demographic info (as does ripehouse which i've only had a tinker with).

DEFINITELY check flood maps, if not for the floods themselves but for the insurance premiums that come with it.

Regarding the flood maps, absolutely ensure you look at the map for every property of interest and are using all overlays from High Risk to Very Low Risk. You can also use google earth to see the topography of an area. Somewhere right opposite a spot with a flood risk can be a bit worrying but that can be verified or put to rest if you see how the land slopes.

I would not personally even consider a place with potential to get wet in a flood.

Be wary that distance from the rivers and creeks isn't necessarily a good indicator of flood risk in Brisbane due to the undulating topography. There are many places right next to the Brisbane River that have no flood risk while there are other spots several kilometres from the river that are high risk.

Within Auchenflower, most of the flood prone areas are east of Milton Road (which is also a bit close to the Ipswich train line), although there are possible exceptions. Auchenflower is one of those hilly areas.

Look on Google Earth, bottom right corner it has the height of the land, as you move the mouse you will see it increase and decrease. Some place can be right near flood zones but 5m higher while other can be a few k/m away but only 1m higher. Also worth noting some areas have better infrastructure in place to move water while others don't, that type of thing is all taken into account in the flood modelling.

Auchenflower is awesome.. Close to city, high income earners, low crime etc..
The main drawback other than potential flooding ( must check flood maps), is that it is already fairly expensive.
The bcc publishes flood maps.

I haven't been out that way lately but is there a lot of supply completing or coming up like a lot of other inner areas?

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Auchenflower itself doesn't have much supply coming online, but some of the adjacent suburbs definitely do have significant supply of apartments under way (Toowong village to the south, and Milton around the station/Park Road to the north).

Also consider parking, some of the streets in auchenflower and paddington/Milton areas are quite narrow due to the difficult terrain/topography they traverse.

Sounds like you are looking at houses not units though, so it shouldn't be a problem. Look for houses with LUG or at least under-cover parking though. Brisbane is known for its hail storms. Lack of covered parking in the more affluent areas (where people tend to drive more expensive cars...) can be a deterrent for renters too

Thanks to all of you for your opinions. I enjoy sleeping at night so I will ignore properties that are in any of the flood levels even low risk or even neighbours of low risk. I watched the youtube clip of cars floating down a river and that has sealed it for me.

I have some more questions now. Not sure if it is worthy of a new thread but here goes:

1. Has anyone done an interstate investment with most research being done online and phone calls and with a trip or two to the state? Is this enough? I can do an amazing amount of research online for free regarding flood zones, street views, sold prices, zoning and suchlike, and probably alot more. I am thinking a weekend in brisbane to check out suburbs and drive around, and then trips up for specific properties that I am interested in. Bear in mind I am a new to property investing so the answer would be different for someone who has done it a dozen times.

2. I can see two strategies for adding value from the outset. One is knocking it down and rebuilding, and the other is just bringing it up to date. My preference is to just bring somewhere up to date for IP #1. I can imagine some would see that as a missed opportunity, but I am feeling nervous enough buying in another state let alone doing a knock down from so far :-o

Has anyone here added significant value (the $2 or more back for a $1 spent) with simple renovations like a new kitchen, bathroom, painting etc. in Brisbane areas close to the city? I just want to get a feel for how possible it is. And then the following question is was it possible to borrow against that extra equity. I.e. convince the bank that it really is worth more.

I have some more questions now. Not sure if it is worthy of a new thread but here goes:
in Brisbane areas close to the city? I just want to get a feel for how possible it is. And then the following question is was it possible to borrow against that extra equity. I.e. convince the bank that it really is worth more.

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I spent a days labour (and a graciously accepted days labour from a kind fellow) to knock down a wall, polish up the hole it left and then $1000 for the painter - the bank added 50k to the value (although that was 6 months in a rising market too )

I spent a days labour (and a graciously accepted days labour from a kind fellow) to knock down a wall, polish up the hole it left and then $1000 for the painter - the bank added 50k to the value (although that was 6 months in a rising market too )

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Noice!!

I would like to be able to picture the alterations that helped cause a 50k increase to the valuation. Do you have the Floorplans or photos posted somewhere?

Oops - and I forgot the cost of new pendant lighting, and new curtains/rods (but a pittance). The suburb has had a considerable rise, I think that is the main factor - but its certainly been worth the money for us, and in a static market, would easily have doubled the money

See the before (professional sales pic)- the far wall in the dining room.

The after is a poor quality, on my iPhone, in the dark (And unstaged of course). You can now see the huge window at the end on the staircase which lets in loads of light. It's hard to appreciate at night, but its all white and gloss white details now.

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